Reaping what I sewed

Sure, this thing took hours to finish, and it's not perfect, but I can say I made it. I dare say it's not bad for a first made-from-scratch sewing project:

I've been saving bags full of old clothes, scraps of fabric, ribbons, buttons, and lace trims long before I knew what to do with them. One of those items is a brown velveteen shirt that I no longer wear. I love the luxurious feel and rich chocolate brown color, and I've always known that I wanted to make something out of it. Unfortunately, the edges of this soft, stretchy fabric often got eaten by the teeth that fed fabric forward as I sewed, thereby jamming the machine quite a bit. And let's not even get into the stupid things I did with the buttonhole foot and the process of sewing the button hole (or, for that matter, my uneven attempts to finish the edges with fancy stitches in lieu of the overlock foot or serger that I don't have). Given the difficulties of working with a stretchy fabric, I'm pretty proud of my end product.

Right before I made this, I repaired a top that I purchased from the thrift store a while ago, but haven't worn because of a busted zipper. The zipper foot really works wonders in seconds. I can see that this sewing machine is a wise investment already.

And the day before that, I struggled with threading the machine, particularly the bobbin. I overtightened the bobbin tension screwed and cracked a side of it, but the screw is still in one piece and is doing its job. Hopefully I won't kill the machine too soon (the bits and pieces of the fabric eaten by the machine has probably already caused indigestion problems).

Next time, I'll go back to mastering the basics using some less-complicated fabrics. It's a frustrating and long learning process, but I think it'll be worth it.

Going Un-leaded

In the past few years of blogging, I think I've only griped about gas prices like all of 5 times, and at least 3 of those are bunched up in the last few months. Small wonder--gas prices have literally jumped 5-10 cents overnight everywhere. It used to be that the suburbs would have cheaper gas, and I'd go there to fill up. However, it seems like the disparity is no more--the prices are pretty even everywhere.

On my drive to work this morning, I heard a story on NPR about the, erm, enormous lengths some people would go to squeeze the most out of their tank of gas. While I'm not about to join their ranks, that story did make me think about how I've changed my driving habits, and what I can do to get even more out of the gallon. One major change is the speed--my leadfoot tendencies are no more. Instead of blazing down the fast lane, now I'm going at the speed limit or even below it. I still gun it when I have to get somewhere in a hurry (since time is money), but for the most part, I've slowed down by at least 5-10 MPH on the majority of the trips. I doubt that I'm saving that much gas, but given that I'm paying for half a tank at the cost of a full tank from a couple of years ago, every little bit makes a huge difference.

Driving slower also has an expected but pleasant side effect--I feel like I'm on a leisurely drive when I'm taking my time. You'd think that I'd be more stressed out because it would take longer to reach my destination, but the slower drive has an oddly calming effect. Given the anxieties of the daily rush, it's nice to enjoy that little bit of unstressed time.

The "Hypermilers" story also inspired me to do something that should have been done long ago--to rid my car of those heavy bar prep books from last summer. I left them in there because they were too heavy to carry to class every day, but now they're just adding dead weight and burning more gas.

What kind of creative moves are you making to lessen the blow from the high gas prices?

Sing it, Sister

Sorry for my late responses and untimely postings. I've been out of town for work again (nearly missed my flight out), and with upcoming trial dates and multiple weddings to attend, life has been quite busy for me.

In fact, it's been so busy that this thing I bought has been sitting in a box in the living room for weeks. I've wanted it for a very long time, and I've been eyeing the prices whenever I went to Target. Finally, the price dropped by $30 (which makes it $99). I figured it was time to snag it.

Can you guess what that thing is?

I've been trying to catch the sales for vacuum cleaners, but that's not what I got.

OK, no more hemming and hawing. Here it is.




Now it's time to start playing around with this thing.

Fickle as Mercury

The weather over the last few weeks is doing quite a number of my immune system, along with the stress of travelling. It's quite a comedy of errors--I brought some colder-weather clothing to Sacramento on the first week, thinking it might be cooler at night like it was in LA. I was gravely mistaken. Hence, I left all the cold weather stuff back home over the weekend and substituted with lighter sweaters...and guess what? It became extremely gusty up north, to the point where my rented Rav4 would sway with the wind on the freeway. When I phoned the office and home, I found out that it was rainy and cold (which also contributed to those miserable flight delays), and in the town next to my home town, it even snowed!?! Given the low elevation, it took me by surprise. Hail is entirely possible, but snow is unheard of.

And now it's back to hot days, cool nights. At least the one good thing about the cooler weather is the opportunity to wear those out-of-season purchases, namely the Mike & Chris sweaters I bought a while ago. I'm an unabashed big fan of the line, since its hoodies are so versatile and sophisticated enough to be comfortable work staples. In years past, I couldn't afford half the beautiful things I wanted, but I managed to get great layering pieces. This time, I went for the investment pieces--nothing too expensive, but solid things that I couldn't afford before.

My favorite piece is the $70 trench coat. If I can wear it all the time, I would. I have always loved the trench sillouette, and when it's fitted and comfortable, it's even better. It's effortless and so classy. Cleaning it is a cinch, too--I've thrown it into the washer a few times, air-dried it (to avoid shrinking...Mike & Chris items tend to run small as it is), and it's good as new.

[Top picture: Mike & Chris coat, A Common Thread top, Paper Denim & Cloth jeans, BCBG pumps w/leopard trim. Bottom picture: Mike & Chris coat, Max Studio dress, Target tights, Gryson for Target bag, Payless shoes]

The other investment piece is an egg-shaped wool coat. I don't know why, but I just have a fascination with rounded forms. Rounded forms carry the danger of making one look rotund, but this one is just right. Since I've been looking for a coat, and I've been wanting something avant-garde (which usually doesn't come cheap), and I didn't want to spend too much money on it, this coat is just the one I've been wanting. At $100, it's warm and even more affordable than the black coat I bought earlier this year.

I also bought some fun and not quite as expensive sweaters. I've always loved the more feminine version of the military look, and this $30 double-breasted sweater with convergent buttons fit the bill. Admittedly, it's a bit difficult to wear--it doesn''t look great when it's unbottoned, but boy does it look sharp when it is. I've worn it with jeans and pumps for going out, and with slacks for a deposition. It's a fun piece that I enjoy.

I also bought a tie-neck top--not quite a bargain for $30 since it doesn't look quite as good when worn as intended, but it looks GREAT when worn as a deconstructed cardigan. I love having the tie ends just hanging loose.

What was a great bargain, however, is this jumper dress. I got it for practically 90% off. I had to pay the tailor $12 to get the zipper fixed, but all in all, $30 (including the said $12 to the tailor) is a really good price for this cute dress. I can't wear it to work, but I definitely can get a lot of wear out of it for fun. Curiously, I saw a picture of this "Johnnie" dress styled as a tube dress by one of the online boutiques. Hmm...

[Top: American Eagle t-shirt, Mike & Chris Johnnie dress, Issac Mizrahi for Target purple pumps. Buttom: Forever 21 eyelet blouse, Mike & Chris Johnnie dress, Coach flats]